To be fair, if I were letting my property through a management company, I'd probably expect them to earn their keep. My sister rents her house out through a PM company but they only set foot there if the tenant calls about something. Sounds like the inspections are a common enough clause that I wouldn't want to risk it.

I agree and have no problem at all with the inspections. I suspect that the agency is not alerting the landlord to the issues with this flat. They are seeing the water damage grow larger each time they visit. I can’t imagine an owner wanting that to go on, but I can’t figure out how to get around them. I am documenting however with photos and e mails

Has that changed recently? When I was renting in England (between 2002 and 2016), I seem to remember that the properties I lived in were only inspected every 6 months.

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It's only every 6 months, at least that's what it said in our contract. It could be 90 days if that's what your contract says.

The first house I lived in the landlords NEVER visited and we had our dog in the house for 15 months, we were not supposed to have a pet. He even did some damage that I fixed and they never noticed.

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The usual. American girl meets British guy. They fall into like, then into love. Then there was the big decision. The American traveled across the pond to join the Brit. And life was never the same again.

Just remember, a lot of the properties that say "no" to pets on sites like Rightmove may not be against having pets. Sometimes, if they don't care either way, they will put a standard "no" answer onto the post. It never hurts to ask. If you like a property, always ask. That's what the estate agents posted on our ad for our rental property. We said we weren't bothered either way as long as it was small-med size pet (it would just require some extra stipulations) but they put "no" so always ask. Worse case scenario, you get a "no". Best case scenario, you're able to work something out

Just remember, a lot of the properties that say "no" to pets on sites like Rightmove may not be against having pets. Sometimes, if they don't care either way, they will put a standard "no" answer onto the post. It never hurts to ask. If you like a property, always ask. That's what the estate agents posted on our ad for our rental property. We said we weren't bothered either way as long as it was small-med size pet (it would just require some extra stipulations) but they put "no" so always ask. Worse case scenario, you get a "no". Best case scenario, you're able to work something out

Definitely don't give up!

Thanks! We've started emailing individual owners/contacts, as we've been able to find them. I do think we have to give up on apartments in the city center as some of the estate agents have told us it's not up to the individual owners. Apparently some of these fancier flats in the city centre are on land where owners pay ground rent and the 'no pets' applies to the land lease for the whole building?

Seems like we'll have to go for a house. We've gotten one positive sounding response, just saying he might consider it for a £2k deposit. It's just more than we wanted to spend, more house than we need and far from an ideal location but at least it's a start

We'll stick with it... Thanks again everyone for all your advice! Oh the things we take for granted lol

Thanks! We've started emailing individual owners/contacts, as we've been able to find them. I do think we have to give up on apartments in the city center as some of the estate agents have told us it's not up to the individual owners. Apparently some of these fancier flats in the city centre are on land where owners pay ground rent and the 'no pets' applies to the land lease for the whole building?

Seems like we'll have to go for a house. We've gotten one positive sounding response, just saying he might consider it for a £2k deposit. It's just more than we wanted to spend, more house than we need and far from an ideal location but at least it's a start

We'll stick with it... Thanks again everyone for all your advice! Oh the things we take for granted lol

Yeah you'll always end up paying more - whether deposit or actual rent - to have a pet unfortunately (in 99.999% of cases at least) as it's more of a risk to the landlord so that's not too uncommon.

Seems like we'll have to go for a house. We've gotten one positive sounding response, just saying he might consider it for a £2k deposit. It's just more than we wanted to spend, more house than we need and far from an ideal location but at least it's a start

I do have to say though that our landlords who live in Singapore asked to stop by when they were in London in September (lovely couple!) and they were fine with pets when we moved in (mostly why we took the place) and thought our two cats were adorable. Their visit was more to inspect what the handyman had fixed and the damage from the prior tenant and to meet us.

They saw all the damage from the family before us - and were very glad they were just renting to a couple again with only pets! I mean cats can have accidents and some people aren't good about cleaning pets, but kids can do some serious damage too.

They saw all the damage from the family before us - and were very glad they were just renting to a couple again with only pets! I mean cats can have accidents and some people aren't good about cleaning pets, but kids can do some serious damage too.

So true! Our house here in Maryland was a foreclosure that I bought and renovated about 9 years ago. IDK who lived there before us, but the kids rooms were a total nightmare!

Just wanted to follow-up and thank everyone for the advice. The persistence paid off... We're scheduled to look at a high-rise apartment in the city centre, and failing that, a couple of bungalows within three miles of three city centre. All of these places said 'no pets' on their listings but agreed to accommodate us in the end.

Now... we just need to finish sorting out the logistics of moving kitty!

Just wanted to follow-up and thank everyone for the advice. The persistence paid off... We're scheduled to look at a high-rise apartment in the city centre, and failing that, a couple of bungalows within three miles of three city centre. All of these places said 'no pets' on their listings but agreed to accommodate us in the end.

Now... we just need to finish sorting out the logistics of moving kitty!